Count Alexei Bobrinsky (Self Portrait), 1842
Count Aleksey Alekseyevich Bobrinsky (1800–1868) is remembered as the founder of the sugar-processing industry in Imperial Russia. After brief and uneventful career at the royal court, he retired from service and settled in Bogoroditsk, establishing one of the first Russian sugar refineries there. Later, he moved his operations to the Ukraine, making various agricultural activities the chief source of his family income. It was thanks to him that Russia stopped importing sugar from abroad. He also published a treatise on economic theory and set up a society for development of railways, which financed the construction of the first railway in Russia. Bobrinsky’s contributions to the national economics were commemorated by a bronze statue in Kiev.
Married 27 April 1821 with Sophia Alexandrovna Bobrinskaya, née Samoilova (1797-1866), daughter of Count Alexander N. Samoilov , maid of honor of the Empress Maria Feodorovna . Three sons were born in marriage:
- Alexander (May 17, 1823 – February 24, 1903), (see my post here) genealogist, chief chamberlain, governor of St. Petersburg. He was married to Countess Sofia Andreyevna Shuvalova.
- Vladimir (2 October 1824 – 28 May 1898), Lieutenant-General, the Governor of Grodno, the Minister of Railways. He was married to Mary Gavriilovna Brezhnev, daughter venёvskogo merchant, with whom he had two sons (Yemelyan and Peter).
- Lion (8 November 1831 – 23 March 1915), the founder of the 37 schools, 23 factories. He was married to Zolotarev (previous marriage Abaza) Alexandra Alekseevna (1831-1900).
He was the son of Alexei Grigorjewitsch Graf Bobrinsky and of Anna / by Johanna v. Sternberg-Ungern, and he was the husband of Sophia A. c. Bobrinskaya. They had three sons: Alexander A. c. Bobrinsky ; Bobrinsky by Vladimir and Lev Bobrinsky.
Another photo of Count A.A. Bobrinsky, 1842
source: Hermitage Museum, Geni
